Amestrian
by cobbled-together-envy
Summary: Eddie, William, and hundreds of other kids are being held in a military-run camp. Read to find out how they manage to escape, and all the sacrifices that come with it, causing them to fully understand the law of Equivalent Exchange.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

We all sat, as still as statues, not daring to move as the guards paced up and down the rows, their boots clicking on the stone floors of the cavernous hall. Just as a guard passed me, there was a small noise to my right, and someone muttered, "Do you have it yet?" I barely twitched my head, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw him grinning. _He has some nerve. _I thought, _communicating with someone in the presence of all the guards. _"Corner, by the tree. Sun down." another twitch, another grin.

Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? My name's Edwina, preferably Eddie, prisoner code: 63205. They call us "subjects", but William, the boy to my right, and I, along with everyone else, think that they're just keeping us as prisoners until they find a use for us. Most of us are probably going to either be sent out to fight in the border war between our neighboring country, Drachma, and our country, Amestris, or be sent to work for the Fuhrer. They are both horrible, but the latter sounds a bit more appealing, seeing as I'd have a better chance of living.

"You!" a soldier barked, pointing to the girl next to me. "You! Get up!" She stood, her whole body shaking like a leaf. Grabbing the collar of her ragged dress, the guard shoved the barrel of his gun into the girl's head, forcing her into a kneeling position. "Are you the one who was breaking into the gaurd cabin last night?" she shook her head vigorously. "You're lying, girl. Tell me the truth." she shook her head even more vigorously, tears streaming down her face, clearing little clean tracks down her grimy cheeks. "Liar." He pulled his finger back and the girl dropped to the ground, dead.

"You can come in now, Gluttony," as he said it, a short fat man with a rather large nose came waddling into sight. "I can eat her?" he asked, sucking on his finger. "Yes. Just don't make too much of a mess." The fat man leered, showing a peculiar tattoo on his tongue, a tattoo of a dragon curled around a six- sided star. Will stiffened next to me as the man sniffed the dead girl's arm and took a large chunk out of her arm, chewing noisily. "Where's Lust?" he said thickly, for he had just taken a large bite out of the girl's abdomen.

"She should be here shortly." Now, the entire of the people in the immediate vicinity were recoiling from the scene in disgust. "Was she really the one who stole it?" he shot at a young boy a couple rows away from me. He jumped and stammered out that he didn't know, and that he didn't even know what had been stolen.

"Gluttony, you just ate. You can't _possibly _be eating again." a condescending voice spoke out from behind Gluttony. A woman wearing an extremely exposing long black dress stepped out of the darkness. Her wavy black hair cascaded down her back, shining in the dim light. The guards stood up straighter. "We don't know if we've caught the thief yet, Ma-", he was cut short by what appeared to be the woman's fingernails going through his stomach. A red stain was spreading all over his blue uniform, and he gurgled up blood, dying his uniform a dark shade of purple.

"You're useless- all of you." the woman said, throwing her arm out to the side and sending the guard flying. "Why Father would use you, I have no idea." She turned on the other soldier, who fumbled into a salute position, his hand trembling. "Ma'am! Please give us more time to find the person who stole the... the... the object!" "Lust," Gluttony whined. "we need to go back. I smell something bad!" Lust (what kind of names are these?!) shook him off, staring the man stright in the eye. "Father needs that stone, and quick. If you want the plan to come through-"

"Of course I want the plan to come through! But these children are proving to be more trouble than they're worth!" Lust sighed and put her fingers on the bridge of her nose, pressing down, a sure sign that she was annoyed. "Gluttony," she said in an exasperate tone, "find the stone. Sniff it out, eat anyone who dares try to hide it."

"But-"

"Do you want Father to punish you?" Gluttony hung his head and started waddling through the rows, sniffing.

My heart was pounding. _If this thing can smell the stone, then I'm in trouble! _William looked at me, fear etched into every line in his face. My view was blocked. I looked up to see the man leering at me, showing his tattoo and- sadly- a lot of saliva. "I found it!" he lunged at me, but I jumped back, the other kids hurrying to get away from the scene. He turned on me, and I started scrambling away, making sure to keep the stone secure in my pocket. "Eddie!" William screamed, jumping on Gluttony in an attempt to stop him, but he was just thrown off.

I stood up, bracing myself for the lump of blubber throwing himself at me, but he didn't come. Instead, there was a pain in my right shoulder and blood spattered out onto the floor infront of me, a bright red that I couldn't help but compare to tomato juice. "Really, all we want is the little stone you have in your pocket, but, if you want to throw in your life, that would be okay too." Lust stepped up to me, a slight smile on her face. Her nails retracted, and I fell forward, dizzy from the pain in my shoulder.

"Eddie! Edwina!" William rose from the floor, swaying a little from his head hitting the floor when Gluttony threw him off. I was on my hands and knees now, breathing heavily, my vision coming in and out of focus and swinging all over the place. Before long, my head was full of buzzing and I - it was inevitable - retched all over the floor, drawing a sigh from Lust as she put her hand on her hip. "Humans," she spat. "Such _weak_ creatures. All they're good for is sacrificing."

"I- I'm not weak..." I coughed out, my stomach still convulsing violently. "I'm not... weak... I'll show you... who's weak..." I staggered to my feet, holding my head. I just then remembered that Gluttony was there. He crashed into me, and now it was Lust's turn to hold her head in dismay. I shrieked and caught a glimpse of the other "subjects" huddled in a tight not a little way away, watching the scene unfold in awe. Most of their mouths were hanging open in shock. They all knew that William and I had rebellious thoughts and schemes that would never come into action, that we usually sat by and let everything happen, like everyone else. But today, they saw the side of me that only a select few ever had the misfortune to see. The side of me that can't control itself, that unleashes it's fury without a second thought. The side of me that is a fierce, ruthless alchemist... plus they've never seen people like this. Mostly the latter though, I believe.

Suddenly, a gigantic transmutation circle lit up the ground around me in an intricate design. It glowed blue, and my eyes, which were previously closed from dizziness, opened, and I knelt, pressing my hands down on the circle, feeling my energy entwine with the circle's. But all of that ended after a second - William had run up and grabbed me, knowing that after the transmutation, I would be too worn out to fight anymore. Lust looked relatively unimpressed at the scene going on in front of her, and Gluttony was starting to suck on his finger again.

Even before I managed to complete the transmutation, most of my energy had been sapped and I was left limp in William's arms.

"'I'll show you who's weak'." Lust scoffed. "Boy, get the stone out of her pocket."

"No."

"Do it!"

"No!"

Lust sighed. "Really, you're turning out to be more trouble than I thought. All we want is the stone. But, as I said, if one of you throw in your life, that would be okay with me." Her nails shot out again, but William was ready, and he jumped out of the way. Lust narrowed her eyes and frowned, shooting out with her other hand and catching William on his hand. He dropped me (much appreciated) and gripped his hand. "Get the stone." This is what I've been trying to teach William - don't give in. Obviously all of my yelling and ranting did nothing seeing as his hand was inching towards my pocket.

I twitched, begging him with my mind not to do it, not to give her the stone. "Will... Willam..." I muttered. "William... don't do it... she's the... the reason I stole it... you don't know.. what... what it can do... in their hands... what they want, it's... the... the Philospher's Stone..." I don't know what happened next, because I blacked out to William's shocked face and Lust raising her hand.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was woken by a cool cloth being placed on my forehead. I opened my eyes to see a grim faced William sitting on a stool next to my bed, hands clasped on his lap. "Hey- William." my voice cracked, and he tried to smile a bit. "So, you didn't give it to them?" he grabbed my hand, and nodded. "She was furious, but collected herself and Gluttony and left. She said something about 'human sacfrifices' and 'would be good'." I grimaced, wondering what that could mean.

"Eddie!" my vision was obscured by a shoulder, and I started choking on the water I had taken a sip of just a moment before. "A- Alice?!" I choked out, trying to breathe. "Alice... I can't breathe."

"...Oh." she let go of me and held me at arms' length. "Eddie- I was so worried! You've always been so non-confrontational, and-" she was cut short by William snorting into his hand. "Oh yeah?" Alice shrieked. "What's so funny about me worrying about my sister?!"

William waved his hand. "It's not that," he chuckled. "It's what you said- 'always been so non- confrontational'. Eddie? Non- confrontational? Are you insane?"

I jumped, remembering something. "William! Do you have the stone?"

"Yeah. Here." he put it in my hand, and I closed my fist around it, relaxing. "Thanks."

"What are you planning to do with it?" the question shocked me.

"Escape, of course." I started to climb out of bed, preparing to leave, but Alice pushed me down. "No, Eddie! You're still recovering- stay here!"

"But Alice, this is urgent! You don't know what they can do!" a muscle in Alice's face twitched once, then stopped. "William, could you leave for a bit?"

William nodded. "Sure, just call me back in when you feel like it." and with that, he walked out, the door clicking shut behind him. Alice turned back to me, her face taut. "Eddie, you can't leave now. You are a... valuable... asset to our plan."

"Alice?" I grasped her face in my blood- stained hands, her dirty-blond hair brushing against my fingers. She grinned an insane smile and stepped away. Only then did I notice the little blue lightning bolts around her feet. I stared in amazement as they traveled up her body, turning her into a young boy with long black hair. "I'm tired of playing the nice baby sister." his voice was a bit higher than most boys and was a bit raspy. He was wearing a short, tight black tank-top, and had a black cloth wrapped around his waist. It looked like he had been wearing skin-tight long socks and gloves, but got angry at them and hacked off the finger holes, heels, and toes.

I looked him up and down- the guy who had pretended to be my sister. "Nice... skirt...?" I ventured. His face turned a bit angry and he spread out the cloth, holding it out for me to see. "It's not a skirt!" he fumed. "At least call it a man-skirt if you will!" He proved it by showing that he was wearing some skin-tight (of course. This kid must like constricting stuff), knee length black shorts under the cloth. As he held the cloth out, I noticed something on his left thigh. A dragon curled around a six- sided star.

"That tatoo... the woman, Lust, had it, and the man too!"

The boy looked at his leg. "Yeah. I heard you had a run-in with them."

"So, do you know them?"

He laughed. "Of course! You could call us acquaintances, even though we're typically siblings. Ever heard of Homunculi?"

I gasped. "Of course! According to the alchemy books I've read, a Homunculus is an 'artificially made dwarf, supposedly produced in a flask by an alchemist'. But, you're not in a flask. You look... human."

"Well, that's a long story, one not for now. Anyway, the name's Envy, nice to meetcha."

"Envy? What is up with you peoples' names?!"

"Again, long story, not for now. What is for now, though, is the matter of you trying to escape this place. Sorry. We can't let you leave. You're needed right here, until we need you. The boy too."

I sat up again as he tilted back in a chair. "Well, I'm sorry, but we can't be compatible with that just now. You see, we have something to get back from you guys." With that, Envy laughed. "I like you, girl," he said. "You've got mouth."

I was fuming. This guy was starting to tick me off. "Aww, am I making you angry?" he mocked. "Am I making little baby Eddie mad?" I aimed a kick at his hand, which was resting on the arm of hi chair. He yanked his hand back before I could get it, which resulted in a large crash and the chair's arm splintering.

"Eddie? Everything alright?" William called throuthe door. "Yeah! Everything's just fine! ...Except the fact that there's a Homunculus in my room, everything's fine." I added under my breath, which just made Envy snicker. "You know," he mused, "I can't kill you. I'd be in BIG trouble if I did- you're an amazing candidate."

"What's up with this candidate and sacrifice stuff?"

"Hmm... how to put it... well, to put it lightly, you're the pig being raised for slaughter. Long story short, you're gonna die, and if you don't get into too much trouble we'll have the honors."

"So... I still don't get it."

Envy sighed. "I'll explain if you come with me." He grabbed my wrist and I smiled. All that time, and he didn't notice me scratching a transmutation circle into the palm of my right hand, which, luckily, is the hand he grabbed. I pressed my hand onto his wrist and smiled as his arm shirveled up and fell off. "Why you little...!" he grabbed my neck with his other hand as his left arm regenerated. "Why'd ya have to go and do that?"

"I- I- I can't... I can't breathe..." I choked out.

Envy let go of my neck and I rubbed where he grabbed. "Oh. Sorry. But seriously, don't do that again. Father'll kill me if I kill a candidate for sacrificing."

"Again with that sacrificing stuff. What the heck is that?!"

Envy sighed and pressed on the bridge of his nose. "Looks like you're going to be more work than we thought. Oh, and you can come in now, Pride."

A little boy with messy black hair and wearing a small brown rich-boy outfit came walking in, his shadows stretching out far behind him, moving around like tentacles. "Envy, I told you to bring the girl to us, and here you are reasoning with her. I swear, what's wrong with you?"

Envy stood up and balled his hands into fists. "I'm sorry, Selim, but this girl is more stubborn than those Elric brothers on a good day."

Pride smirked and looked at me. "Well,' he said as his tentacle-like shadows snaked towards me, wrapping around my wrists and ankles like insubstantial ropes that won't give no matter how hard I struggled. One of the tendrils slithered towards me, stroking my face and leaving slits that dripped blood. As another shadow crept towards me, some others gripped my hair, neck, and stomach, lifting me up into the air and swinging me around like a rag doll.

"I'm dreaming. This has to be a dream." I winced as more shadows wrapped themselves around me, encasing me in what would seem to look like insubstantial strips of black fabric. They were making their way across my face, threatening to suffocate me but unable to do so.

"A dream?" Pride mocked, cocking his head. "Well, if this is a dream, then this dream is about to turn into your worst nightmare." Envy grinned and looked at me. "Sorry, kid. We can't kill you, so we had to use other methods to get you to come with us."

And that was the last I saw them before Pride's shadows covered my eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_I was flying._

_I was flying, flying with someone else pressed up against me._

_That person, who is it...?_

_They keep saying my name- do I know them?_

_That person won't leave me alone._

_They won't let me fly through that tunnel I see ahead, that pretty tunnel with the light at the end._

_What is that light?_

_Is it a lighthouse?_

_A flashlight?_

_Why won't they let me find out?_

"Eddie! EDDIE!" William shook my shoulders vigorously, trying to return me to consciousness. We were in a locked room in the dorms, hiding in a closet next to the door. "Eddie, Eddie please wake up, we need to get away before they find us in here!" there was a loud noise in the room and the door flew off of its hinges and across the room, crashing into the wall opposite to it. "Where are they?"

"Gluttony?" William squeezed me and my eyes flew open. "Will?"

William shushed me and helped me into a sitting position. "We have some unwanted company, Eddie. First it was just Pride and Envy, but now they brought in Gluttony."

"What?"

"Gluttony's out there, and we know that he has an amazing sense of smell. We need to figure out how to escape." there was a sound outside the door and someone snickered. "I smell them!"

The door flew open and Pride was standing there, shadows swirling around his feet. "Come on, we need you to-"

"We can't tell them our plan, Pride! Father said not too!" Envy warned.

Pride sighed. "Envy, Gluttony, stand back. I have a feeling that this might get a bit reckless."

We didn't have time to react. Before we could even blink, the shadows were upon us and holding us down, torturing us, weakening us. You know that feeling, when you're being pressed down and being tickled, but you can't even move, let alone get the person off of you? Well, imagine that, but ten times worse because you're being cut instead of tickled. William was thrashing around next to me, screaming at Pride to stop.

That's when I snapped. Well, as much as you can snap when you can't move, that is. I'd promised myself a long time ago that if anything happened, I would protect William no matter what the costs.

"Get away from him! Don't touch him!" a shadow came across my face leaving a long red gash.

"Shut up, girl." Pride said, frowning. "All we need is for you to come with us. If you're willing to cooperate, then nothing will happn to either of you."

"I'll never go with you!"

"Okay."

"EDDIE!" I looked at William who was staring at something above me. I looked up just in time to see a shadow go clean through my stomach.

"Where... am I?"

"Hush, You're safe. Just go back to sleep."

A couple hours later I opened my eyes to see woman wearing an apron come walking into the room. She was holding a large bottle of disinfectant and several towels. "Crap, I was hoping you'd be asleep for this. Sadly enough, we're out of sedatives, so you're just going to have to hold on through all this. Oliver!" she called back through the door. "I need you in here!"

A boy's voice sounded from another room, "Okay, be there in a second!"

The woman walked over to the bed I was laying in and set the bottle and towels down on the bedside table. She lifted up my head and placed a towel underneath it. She also had the young boy, who just came in, lift me up so that she could line the bed with pillows. After he put me down, he spotted the wound on my stomach and gulped. "Mom, are you sure this is okay? Look at the size of that!"

"She's either going to die from infection or go through this. It's a miracle she even survived that wound- if she's stubborn enough for that she's stubborn enough for this."

The boy looked at me. "Hey. I'm Oliver Campbell. I'm seventeen, believe it or not. And, well, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to hold you down now. My mom's going to pour disinfectant on that cut, and... well even grown men with smaller cuts than that scream like babies." with that, he placed my arms in a surrender position and pinned down my wrists. For someone as scrawny-looking as him, he sure was strong. "Jack! Come in here and hold down her feet!"

A boy that looked exactly the same as Oliver, except that he had a burn covering half of his face, came in and pinned down my ankles. "Sorry kid, but this is necessary if you want to live."

"One question first- where's William?"

"He's in the living room sleeping. Now, we begin."

There was a burning, white hot pain in my stomach and high-pitched screaming filled the room. "HOLD HER DOWN! Keep holding her!" more pain. More screaming. My eyes rolled back in my head, and I was seeing stars, seeing that tunnel, seeing nothing but white. I was sweating- I couldn't help it. My body was trembling; thrashing. It felt like the hottest fire from Hell was being slowly lowered onto my wound, searing every inch of it. "One more, sweetheart, one more."

"Hold on! It's almost over, hold on!"

And as soon as it started, it was over. They let go of me, and I just lay there on the drenched towels, hot, wet, my hair drenched from the roots to the very last dead end. My eyes were red, and my vision was coming in and out of focus. I was shaking uncontrollably. But there was no more pain. Just a dull pounding where my wound is. "Okay, sweetheart, this might seem a bit harsh, and for some even horrifying, but we must do this every other day to make sure that you don't get an infection."

"Who are you?"

Oliver grinned. "Just a couple of small-town doctors who're gonna milk ya for what you're worth."

I smiled. "Too bad- I don't have any money."

"Oh, but we don't only milk for money-"

"You'll have to help us out with some work to pay off your debt." Jack interjected, smiling. I couldn't help but grin back at him.


	4. -- sorry, people

Hey people reading this story! I probably won't be uploading for a while, because

1) I'm really busy

2) I'm working on the story _Dreamland _on Fictionpress/Wattpad for a Scholastic competition next year, and I need to get further unless I want to go crazy.

So, my apologies, and if I ever get back to these (the stories I'm posting this on), I promise that it'll be awesome

-_- really sorry, people.

~cobbled-together-envy


End file.
